Dismissal of employees; notification

If you intend to lay off a large number of employees in your company, you must notify the Employment Agency in good time.

Description

Are you planning a large number of redundancies in your company? Then, under certain conditions, you are obliged to notify (report) the Employment Agency in writing in advance. This also applies if you

  • give notice of a change of employment,
  • offer termination agreements, or
  • dismiss employees at your instigation.

You cannot make up the notice of dismissal at a later date. The date from which the duty to notify applies depends on the size of your company and the number of redundancies. If there is a works council in your company, you must inform it in writing of your plans before notifying the Employment Agency. Together with the works council, you must discuss how redundancies can be prevented and their consequences minimized.

You must provide the works council with the following information:

  • Reasons for planned layoffs,
  • Number and occupational groups of employees to be laid off,
  • Number and occupational groups of employees to be laid off,
  • period during which the redundancies are to be made,
  • criteria envisaged for the selection of those to be laid off,
  • criteria envisaged for the calculation of any severance pay.

The following are exempt from the obligation to notify in the case of dismissals:

  • Small businesses with, as a rule, up to 20 employees,
  • seasonal and campaign establishments in the case of dismissals due to the nature of these establishments (end of the season/end of the campaign).

However, if seasonal and campaign establishments make redundancies for other reasons (for example, before the end of the season or due to plant closure), they are subject to the notification requirement.

If your company is part of the construction industry and you receive seasonal short-time allowance, you must also report the layoffs.

Prerequisites

If your business meets the following requirements, you are required to report layoffs:

  • Number of regular employees: 21 to 59; Number of planned layoffs: more than 5 employees.
  • Number of regular employees: 60 to 499; number of planned layoffs: 10 percent or more than 25 employees.
  • Number of regular employees: 500 or more; number of planned layoffs: 30 or more employees.
  • The obligation to notify arises if the minimum number of layoffs specified is intended within 30 calendar days.

Termination agreements and self-terminations of employees are equivalent to dismissals if they are initiated by you as the employer.

Procedure

Before the ad:

  • Is there a works council? Inform them in advance about your plans and consult with them about preventing or minimizing redundancies and their consequences.
  • If dismissals are unavoidable, you must inform the works council in writing about the exact measures at least 2 weeks before you report to the employment agency.
  • If there is no works council, these information requirements do not apply.

Notification to the Employment Agency:

  • You must submit the notice of dismissal to the Employment Agency in written form. To do this, you can download, save and fill out the form "Dismissal notification in accordance with Section 17 of the German Dismissal Protection Act (KSchG)" and the form "Information for the employment agency".
  • The notification to the Employment Agency must contain:
    • Name of the employer
    • Location and type of company
    • Reasons for the planned redundancies
    • Number and occupational group of employees to be laid off
    • number and occupational group of the employees to be laid off
    • period during which the redundancies are to be made
    • Criteria for the selection of the employees to be laid off.
  • You can then submit the completed documents to your employment agency online via the employment agency's eService or by mail. The Agentur für Arbeit at the place of business is responsible.
  • You can also use the upload service to submit documents later if you have already submitted the notice of dismissal.
  • If you submit the notice of dismissal online, it is not necessary to send the documents to the Employment Agency by mail. A handwritten signature is not required for an effective notice of dismissal. The indication of the name is sufficient. You are free to sign the notice of dismissal.
  • According to the law, you are obliged to send a copy or a transcript of the notice of dismissal to the works council.
  • If your notice of dismissal is complete and effective, you will receive written confirmation of receipt from your employment agency. With the confirmation of receipt, you will also receive an information sheet for your employees. It contains important information for employees affected by the layoffs.
  • Pass the information sheet on to your employees without delay so that your employees suffer as little financial disadvantage as possible. The information sheet can also help your employees find new jobs as quickly as possible. You can also download and print the information sheet separately via the "Downloads" section.
  • If your notice of dismissal is not complete or not yet effective for other reasons, your employment agency will contact you. In this case, too, you can still submit documents via the eService by uploading them online, if necessary.

Processing time

None

Required documents

  • Erforderliche Unterlage/n

    Wenn es einen Betriebsrat gibt:

    • Kopie der Mitteilung an den Betriebsrat
    • Stellungnahme des Betriebsrates. Wenn Ihnen diese nicht vorliegt, müssen Sie der Agentur für Arbeit belegen, dass Sie den Betriebsrat mindestens 2 Wochen vor der Anzeige an die Agentur für Arbeit konsultiert haben. In dem Fall müssen Sie auch den Stand der Beratungen mit dem Betriebsrat darlegen.

Forms

  • Form, Bavaria-wide: Formular Entlassungsanzeige der Bundesagentur für Arbeit
    Please note

    This form has to be signed and sent to the responsible authority. You can sign the form manually and send it by email/fax or sign the form electronically with your qualified electronic signature an send it by (secure) email. If the responsible authority has set up a De-Mail account, you can also send the form by De-Mail using an sender-confirmed message.

Online procedures

  • Haushaltsscheck - Online-Anmeldung einer Haushaltshilfe

    The online registration is possible in only two steps. In addition to a few personal details of you as the employer and your household help, details of the employment are also recorded. This includes, for example, the remuneration and the start of the mini-job.

  • Haushaltsscheck - Online-Halbjahresscheck für Haushaltshilfe

    If your home help's monthly earnings are not always the same, you can report fluctuating earnings using the online semi-annual check. The report covers a period of one calendar half-year. This way, you do not have to submit separate follow-up checks for each month of employment.

  • Haushaltsscheck - Online-Änderungsscheck für Haushaltshilfe

    The online change check makes it easy for you to notify us of changes. If, for example, the amount of your household help's earnings, your bank details or your contact address change, you can notify us online. The online change check can also be used to deregister your household help.

Fees

  • Levy: none

Legal bases

Remedy

  • Objection
  • Action before the social court

Links to more information

Status:15.04.2023

Responsible for editing:Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales

Contains machine translated content. Show the original content

  • Online transactions, Bavaria-wide
  • Online transactions, locally limited
  • Form, Bavaria-wide
  • Form, locally limited
  • Prefillable Form, Bavaria-wide
  • Legal bases, Bavaria-wide
  • Legal bases, locally limited
  • Fees, Bavaria-wide
  • Fees, locally limited
Information

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